Newborn Pictures

Thanks Ashley!

I'm pretty sure my kid is the cutest baby EVER!

But I might be a little bias :)

First Bath

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but Makenna actually seemed to enjoy her "bath". Since she hasn't lost her belly button stump, she can only have sponge baths. Daddy took over this job as mommy watched and took pictures. I think Mike will be in charge of giving all the baths from here on out. He did a great job!

First Dr. Appt.

It was so difficult to take our healthy baby into a doctor's office filled with sick kiddos. Mike and I both were very worried first time parents, trying to protect our girl from all those germs! I actually let out a few tears because I was scared that my baby was going to be infected!

Anyway, once we got to the appt. I realized that we had forgotten the camera. I made Mike drive home real quick to grab it as I filled out the paper work!

We saw Dr. Grub, but aren't too sure if this is the pedi that we will stay with. Feel free to recommend yours!

Poor Makenna had to have her heal pricked for the PKU. Mommy cried harder then Makenna did! She's a tough little girl!

Makenna's Birth Story

What an amazing experience!

I started going into labor Saturday night with contractions about 5 minutes apart. We pack our bags and called L&D and told them we thought it was time. They told us to wait until the contractions were closer to 3 minutes apart. So I tried my best to get some sleep, waking up every 5 minutes with SERIOUS back labor. By Sunday morning the contractions had slowed to every 10-20 minutes apart.

We decided to go for a walk around 2 o'clock in the afternoon around our neighborhood. As we were walking the contractions got to be 3 minutes apart, lasting for over 60 secs! We returned home, and I got in the tub for about 30 minutes. The tub felt soooo good on my back, however, it seemed like it was slowing my contractions down, so I decided to get out and rock on the exercise ball. By 6pm, my back was KILLING me. I started sobbing so DH called the hospital again and told them we were coming in. (He fibbed on how close my contractions were, said they were still 3 min apart instead of 5) They said we could come and they would monitor me for an hour.

We get to the hospital around 7pm, they check me, and I'm at 3cm dilated and completely effaced. However, the on call Dr. wasn't impressed and told the nurse to send us home. She convinced him to give me a chance to walk the hallways (she said she could tell that I was having serious contractions), so we walked the hallways, check again, and I was then at 6cm dilated! They decide to keep us. Since the back labor was so painful, I decided to get the epidural. After 1 hr of having the epi, they decide to break my water. I immediately went to 8 cm dilated. They guessed that I would begin pushing in the next hour. We called our families who showed up, only to hear that I was still at 8cm. The nurses continued to check me every hour from then on, but there was no more progress. In fact my cervix was starting to swell and so was the baby's head. The last time they checked me, I started going backwards and was only at 7 cm.

After 8 hours of nothing happening, it was clear that the baby wouldn't be able to make it through the birth canal. The Dr. came in to discuss C-section. I bawled the entire time. My whole family was upset and crying too, but reassuring me that I had done everything I could do. I had tried laboring on my hands and knees, layed on my side with my leg over a table, sat in the up right position with my legs reclined down, but nothing was helping. As they prepped me for the section, I couldn't help but feeling ashamed. I felt like I had let myself down along with everyone else. But the nurses told me something that made a lot of difference to me. They said that no matter how I actually give birth, I am bringing a new life into this world. I was the one responsible for creating her and keeping her healthy while inside of me, and now all I needed to do was get her out safely too.

My mom and husband were both allowed to come into the OR with me. My husband sat by my head and dutifully held my hand. I had him repeat to me everything the Drs were saying because I couldn't hear them from behind the screen. My mom was able to watch as the baby was being brought out of me. It took two Drs a lot of effort to get the baby out. She was wedged deep into my pelvis and was facing sunny side up. Her shoulders were also twisted. There was no way she would have successfully made it out vaginally.

At 7:37 am, January 5th (her EDD!), Makenna Clair was born. She has blondish/brownish hair, weighed 8.7 lbs, 20.5 inches long, 13 inch head. Absolutely perfect and beautiful. Makenna is a name Mike and I both loved and it seems to fit our baby girl perfectly. Clair is after Mike's grandpa who recently passed away this year.

Breastfeeding is going really well now. My milk came in yesterday night, and Makenna is lovin' it! She is such a good baby. Eats, sleeps, and poops! I am amazed at the love Mike and I have for her. We can not stop staring at her and thanking each other for this incredible gift.

Maternity Photos

A good friend of mine took some photos for us. I almost didn't get them done because I had waited too long and felt HUGE! But I'm so glad she talked me into getting them done. I am so happy we have these to look back on.

39+ weeks....

It is so surreal to be at this point in my pregnancy. I'm sitting here literally waiting for something to happen. Is my water going to break, are these contractions going to last and get stronger, will I know when I am really in labor?! I'm so uncomfortable right now, and everyone is very anxious to meet this little girl. I want her to be here NOW!

When I first found out we were finally pregnant, I was absolutely terrified that something would go wrong. I couldn't wait for that first Dr. appt at 8 weeks. It still didn't seem real, even after we saw our little bean's heart beating like crazy at 150 bpm.

At our 12 week appt. we were able to hear the heart beat using the doppler. I remember lying there in panic when it took a few seconds to find the heart beat. It measured at a strong 165 bpm.

Finally on August 21st, we had our "big ultrasound". It was amazing to see our baby moving around so much. While we could already feel movements from the outside, it was incredible how much the baby was actually moving around on the inside. The tech started by measuring her heart, brain, looking at her spine and blood flow. I kept asking if everything looked ok. The tech reassured us saying that "everything looks great so far." We could see the baby rubbing her eyes and even smiling at us! Finally she asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby and then pointed out her GIRL parts! That's when a few tears rolled down my cheeks. A BABY GIRL!

After that, the dr. appts became pretty routine; pee in a cup, get weighed, blood pressure check, and listen to the heartbeat. Mike did his best to make it to the majority of appts. I think he has made it to all but 3 (stupid traffic)! It means so much to have him there with me.

Starting at 30 weeks, I started going to appts every 2 weeks. at 35 weeks, we started weekly appts. At 35 weeks, I also had the Group B Strep test which I tested positive for (not a big deal, just need antibiotics once in labor) and my first internal check. Nothing was happening quite yet, which was fine by me, since I wanted her to say in for at least a couple of more weeks anyway. 36 week check, I was a fingertip dilated, and starting to soften. The Dr. could feel that she was head down. My belly measurements have been measuring ahead about 2-3 weeks. So my Dr. scheduled us for another ultrasound to check the size of the baby. Turns out that she is absolutely perfect in growth and even has a little hair! 37 week check, 1 cm dilated, 80% effaced, -2 station. YES! Something was really starting to happen! 38/39 week check, nothing more...BOO!

So here we are...just waiting. The fact that I know she has to come out sooner then later is helping me get through these next few days....I just hope I don't go past our due date....